South African President Faces Parliament Vote On Corruption

South Africa’s parliament is expected to hold a special sitting to debate a report by a panel of legal experts which found that President Cyril Ramaphosa may have broken his oath of office.

This is in connection with the Phala Phala farm scandal hanging over the president, in which Mr. Ramaphosa has been accused of a cover-up following the theft of foreign currency at his private game farm back in 2020.

President Ramaphosa’s fate will be in the hands of MPs as they vote on whether he should be impeached.

Report says evidence of potential misconduct was found after allegations that he concealed the theft of foreign currency from his game farm has fuelled calls for him to step down.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ramaphosa has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

The governing ANC party has instructed its 230 lawmakers, including those known to be against the president, to reject the report because its findings have been challenged in court.

However, some could break ranks and side with opposition parties for impeachment proceedings to get underway.

If Mr. Ramaphosa survives the encounter in parliament, he is likely to be re-elected as ANC president at the party’s elective conference which starts on Friday.

BBC/CO